RUFARO - Guitar Man (1989)

SKR Records, SRH9009

Producer: Dan Ntanzi

Engineers: Phil Audoire & David Moloele

Recorded at: Orange 338

Rufaro (Shona for happiness) was a tight and underrated group along the lines of Harari and Zasha, with rock-inspired guitar grooves making them stand out from the rest. On the follow-up to their 1987 self-titled effort, they parted ways with Sidwell Duda and hired a new producer in Dan Ntanzi (who also worked with David Chanke) to put out six cool tracks, including 'Thutha' and 'Woza Woza'.

RUFARO - Rufaro (1987)

Challenger/Mac-Villa, CHM073-12"

Producer: Sidwell Duda

Engineers: Sam Wingate & Lee Short

Recorded by: RPM 

Top-quality disco grooves from a tight, full band along the lines of Zasha and with the Afro-rock influence of Harari. "Moses (Mahlangu, bass), Shadrack (Rameya, keyboards) and Joseph (Mngoma, drums) started as session musicians, playing in various studios in Johannesburg. Having backing numerous groups we decided to look for additional musicians and to record our own material. We met Ephraim (Hlope, keyboards) who playing keyboards for the now defunct Cannibals. He injected new life into the band and assisted us with our compositions. Together with our producer, Sidwell Duda, we auditioned several vocalists until we discovered Eric (Mmusi) who used to work with Cheek To Cheek and Sparks. After a few weeks of rehearsals we went into the studio for our first maxi-single 'The Mighty Birds'. For the backing vocals we used the powerful new trio Elegance."